News Flash - ACTOR SLITS OWN THROAT ONSTAGE. AGATHA CHRISTIE'S GHOST SAYS "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT?"

Saw this article on huffpost. My comments follow the article.

Actor slits his own throat as knife switch turns fiction into reality



An actor slit his throat on stage when the prop knife for his suicide scene turned out to be a real one.

Daniel Hoevels, 30, slumped over with blood pouring from his neck while the audience broke into applause at the "special effect". Police are investigating whether the knife was a mistake or a murder plot. They are questioning the rest of the cast, and backstage hands with access to props; they will also carry out DNA tests.

Things went wrong at Vienna's Burgtheater as Hoevels' character went to "kill himself" in the final scene of Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart, about Mary Queen of Scots, on Saturday night

It was only when he did not get up to take a bow that anyone realised something had gone wrong.

Though bleeding profusely, Hoevels survived because the knife missed the carotid artery as it sliced into his neck. Wolfgang Lenz, a doctor who treated him, said: "Just a little bit deeper and he would have been drowning in his own blood."

One officer told Austrian TV news: "The rumours are wild, with some claiming that he was the victim of jealous rival.

"We don't know anything for sure yet; we have to work through everyone."

The knife was reportedly bought at a local shop; one possibility is that the props staff forgot to blunt its blade. "The knife even still had the price tag on it," an investigator said.

After emergency treatment at a hospital, Hoevels declared that the show must go on, and returned to the stage on Sunday night with a bandage tied around his neck, ready to once again meet his mock demise.

Well, far be it from me to argue a little self-preservation at the expense of truthful performance onstage, but really?!?

I know it wasn't intentional, but there had to be a moment when this kid thought, "Ow! Fuck. This isn't the knife that we used in all of the dress rehearsals or the week of tech before performances began? I better not... cut my own throat open onstage. I better just pretend that I did it, forgo the blood effect, and then get backstage so that I can see what the fuck happened here."

Not this kid.

This kid goes all "Jack The Ripper" on himself, open up his neck and begins to bleed out onstage. Slumps over. Lays there, contemplating the random folly of fate, whilst he sullies up the floor's paint-job.

Why didn't he get up and motion to the blood coming out of his neck and seek out medical help?

Why did he just lay there and bleed on the stage?

Maybe he's young and inexperienced.
Maybe he's from the School of Dramatic Arts that say "Die for your art".
Maybe he's depressed and just decided to end it all on a terribly public manner.

There HAS to be a reason why this kid didn't follow the normal reactions to the accidental, public slicing of one's own throat. I would hate to think that he's just confirmation of the worst possible slanders of actors. I would hate to think of this of evidence of that tired old, backstage bon mot that actors are basically pretty sheep that need too much attention and can't be given actual responsibilities or expected to do much more than memorize dialogue and pose a bit. I surely would hate to think of this as confirmation of that...

Be safe out there, kids. Don't go slitting your own throats for regional theater. That's no way to win a Jeff.

Cheers,
Mr.B